Training is "crucial" for Africa and for Italy, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday at an opening address to the Rome Med Dialogues Extraordinary Expert Meeting's growth diplomacy session.
''Training is crucial for Africa - for us and for them - as the Mattei plan shows," said Tajani.
At a summit in Rome last week, the government unveiled its 5.5 billlion euro 'Mattei' plan for Africa aimed at stabilising the continent and propelling its economic development through 'non-predatory' parternships, especially in the energy sector.
"It's important that young Africans can come and train in our country, and for this reason the number of scholarships has been increased," said Tajani.
"The goal is Africans who speak Italian and whom we have made available to companies so that they can work in Italy and can act as bridges with their countries," he said.
Italians who have trained in Italy can communicate with the local workforces and liaise between "the African and Italian offices of our companies'', Tajani underlined.
Tajani’s speech opened 'The role of Italian growth diplomacy in the Mediterranean' session in which African companies and trade associations, top experts and researchers from the Mediterranean region are taking part.
